Found this site – full of; Funk, Soul, Boogaloo, Latin, Afrobeat, Rare Groove, Reggae, Rock samples, podcasts and pictures by DJ Botany 500. Well worth a look and a listen. Peep here.

I used to favor sporting an over sized can in the early days of my DJ career. I believe they were Sony MDR-piecesofcrap V7ooDJ. So called ‘Professional DJ headphones’ with a swivel mechanism earcup. This ‘swivel mechanism earcup’ meant that the bit that enabled your can to stay closed around your ‘shell like’ would snap off and one would have to fashion a replacement using cable ties to keep them strapped on to your face. I am pleased to say that I am ‘over’ my penchant for over sized cans and cheap crap and now am on the look out for something far more stylish and audibly effective. So whilst on the hunt I came across this bunch of beauties… Some might be best plugged into your Sony Walkman whist the others more suitable for the DJ fraternity, to be used in a more industrial way.

These headphones (pictured above ) are called the TMA-1 Headphone, an iconic, striped to basics, headphone designed as a DJ tool and developed in collaboration with leading DJs, produced by Aiaiai. They are rumoured to be launched in early 2010 – so any time now, as soon as batman gives them back. Kibishi has the story here.

If your bag is to experiment with colour then Aiaiai Track headphones come in a lovely range of muted tones like peaches and cream with good reviews on sound quality. Peep here for more info. UK stockist here.

AIAIAI and Kilo Design have again created a headphone which gives an overall great experience for eyes and ears.

Or for the bolder amongst us or those young folks who like to coordinate their cap to their laces, to the tongues on their sneakers, to their T shirt, to the turn-up of their jeans… peep these from Urbanears – available in a plethora of colours peep here for the wow. And here for the buy.

The Urbanears Plattan headphones are all about style, which unfortunately doesn’t leave much room for great sound in this case. Beware of mushy bass, nasally mids, and an absence of clarity.

And finally these were released at the end of 09 and are already pretty slippery to get hold of…

adidas Originals expands its diverse product portfolio by launching premium DJ headphones in collaboration with Sennheiser. Renowned as THE staple equipment for recording and DJ-ing, Sennheiser’s HD 25-1-II has been at the forefront of monitoring headphones for more than 20 years.

The adidas Originals touch is evident in the iconic 3-Stripes and Trefoil logo as well as the ever recognizable blue adidas color scheme, while the Sennheiser build quality ensures perfect sound fidelity, from crystal clear highs through to crisp basses.

The adidas Originals HD 25-1-II headphones by Sennheiser will be available in select adidas Originals Stores across Western Europe from the beginning of December 2009 and online at shop.adidas.com from December 1st.

Quoted from highsnobiety.

This is an old poster that I remember putting up on the side of a dumpster with wall paper paste in the cold winter of 2006. Those were the days! Found at flikr from Graffpix.

For record purchases, but well worth it… you shall hear from the mix I am planning to put up shortly. However I am pretty skint now so this batch will have to keep me going for a while. Or here’s an idea for busking…

Master class with Ken Swift

As part of Breakin Convention 09 Birmingham Hippodrome presents a B-Boy Fundamentals Masterclass with legend Ken Swift.

Where: DanceXchange, Level 5, Birmingham Hippodrome, Thorp Street, Birmingham B5 4TB

Workshop date: Monday 11th May 2009

Time: 10:00am-11:30am

Level: This workshop is for advanced level B-Boys and B-Girls

Cost: £5 per person IN ADVANCE to Book: Call Birmingham Hippodrome box office T: 0844 338 5000
(Opening hours: 10am – 8pm / 6pm non-performance days; subject to change due to maintenance/training)

Please note numbers for this workshop are limited and will be sold on a first come first served basis.

Ken Swift is a B-boy and former Vice President of the Rock Steady Crew of which he was a long time member and key figure, he is now President of the VII Gems Hip Hop movement in NYC. Widely known in the B-Boy world as “the Epitome of a B-Boy,” Ken Swift is credited with the creation of many dance moves. Ken Swift is nearly universally considered by B-Boys to be the individual who has had the greatest influence on break dancing. Ken Swift began B-Boying in 1978 at the age of twelve when he was inspired by dancers on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ken Swift is performing for the first time in the UK as part of Breakin’ Convention at Birmingham Hippodrome on the 12th & 13th May with VII Gems Rock Dance Division in their new piece – ROCKIN IT.

For more information and for tickets check:

Master class with MyoSung

Also as part of Breakin Convention 09 Birmingham Hippodrome presents an advanced level breaking masterclass with Korean BBoys MyoSung

Where: DanceXchange, Level 5, Birmingham Hippodrome, Thorp Street, Birmingham B5 4TB

Workshop date: Wednesday 13th May

Time: 2pm – 3.30pm

Cost: £5 per person IN ADVANCE FROM BOX OFFICE

To Book: Call Birmingham Hippodrome box office T: 0844 338 5000
(Opening hours: 10am – 8pm / 6pm non-performance days; subject to change due to maintenance/training)

Level: This workshop is for advanced level B-Boys and B-Girls

Please note numbers for this workshop are also limited and will be sold on a first come first served basis.

We are going to be playing records for the big and little people coming to Baby Loves Disco on Sunday 24th May at The Patrick Centre, Hurst Street, Birmingham from 2pm-4pm.

Baby Loves Disco is an afternoon dance party for little kids (6 months-7 years) and (especially) their parents: featuring Mama Feel Good! DJs playing feel good disco, soul and funk tracks guaranteed to get those little booties moving and grooving.

The fun spills out from all corners of the coolest club in town: bubble machines, baskets of instruments, a chill-out room (with tents, books and puzzles), and dancing, LOTS of dancing (and yes, the cash bar will be open for mummy and daddy!). But at its core, Baby Loves Disco is a community event that brings kids together with kids and parents together with parents, guaranteed to be the best time you’ve had at a kids event!

Check the DanceXchange website for more info, tickets are £5 each and non walking babies get in for free – perhaps its worth laying off those development sessions for a while and saving some cash. Bobbie and I are looking forward to this, seeing all them cute kids wiggling around, little boys sliding on their knees and hard working mums and dads getting a chance to wind down and chat whilst their wee ones tear up the dance floor.

My biological clock is ticking pretty loudly these days, I am in my late twenties now and sometimes I find myself looking at my other half, with my head tilted to one side, with one eye slightly squinted thinking about whether our baby boys will have his shoulders and my nose or his nose and my shoulders.

If you haven’t got babies yet, then try to borrow one for this – whatever you do, don’t miss out!

“A SUITE FOR MA DUKES”

James Yancey (1974-2006), better known as J Dilla was born in Detroit. His work as a producer had a defining role in Hip-Hop. He produced hits for A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Common and Erykah Badu to name a few. At 32, he passed away in Los Angeles in the care of his mother, Ma Dukes of lupus related illness. Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson pay tribute to Dilla by interpreting his music with a 40-piece orchestra.

I got this heads up from my beau Blacksmile; (DJ, producer, beat maker and J Dilla fanatic). A Suite for Ma Dukes is phenomenal. This iconic EP will surely go down in history as one of the best tributes to the legendary J Dilla there has ever been. And certainly a completely unique interpretation of some of his productions.

As a soul/funk DJ my ears are usually turned off by classical music, I need the familiar structure and syncopation of a well constructed soul record. I usually like some strings but want them crafted into a melody that I can tap my feet to. This EP by Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood Ferguson is orchestral and beautifully soulful, with a jazzy emotive lean. Fall in Love features dreamy harps and dramatic swooshes. But Find a way is my favourite, and will be getting much air play from the Mama Feel Good! camp.

Here is some more info from Stones Throw.

Carlos Niño and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson have been working together on a wide variety of projects, beginning in 2004 when Niño hired Atwood-Ferguson’s string quartet to perform on Dwight Trible & The Life Force Trio’s Love is the Answer (Ninja Tune). The J Dilla production “Antiquity” also comes from this project.

Suite for Ma Dukes initially began in 2007, on what would have been Dilla’s 33rd birthday, when Niño & Atwood-Ferguson recorded and released their strings, brass and reeds-only version of J Dilla & Common’s “Nag Champa” to DJs, producers and fans over the Internet for free. They had written the entire piece to accompany the record as a their tribute to Dilla, feeling that the producer was still in the track not by his presence but by his absence.

The 4 tracks on Suite for Ma Dukes cover Dilla’s productions from “Antiquity” and “Nag Champa”, A Tribe Called Quest’s “Find a Way” and Slum Village’s “Fall in Love”.

Early in 2009 the project received the official blessing from Ma Dukes herself. The EP is available from Stones Throw. As stated by Mochilla, proceeds from the record will go to Dilla’s heirs.

This issue pays homage to Philly Soul and is well worth a peruse. Philadelphia was home to many great artists and bands; Barbara Mason, Billy Paul, Brenda and The Tabulations, First Choice, The Stylistics and The Soul Survivors to name but a few.

Props to wax-p for the article about the late great jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard who sadly passed away last year.

You can buy this issue and past issues of Waxpoetics from the website and online at Juno, Dusty Groove or from the high street at Borders for about £8.

What struck me most at the Supremes exhibition at BM&AG today was how much Motown Records was instrumental to the black civil rights movement.

Motown was America’s largest independent record label and the most financially successful black owned business in the country. The marketing of their artists was crucial. It got black people on TV and in the mainstream media and portrayed them as clean cut, wholesome and fresh faced – palatable to white America, during a radical upheaval in race relations.
This grooming was done under the instruction of Ms Maxine Powell head of Artist Development at Motown. Ms Powell taught the Supremes ‘how to glide’. They would take classes in etiquette – how to talk, eat, get out of a car and generally present themselves.

Artist development was a major part of Motown’s operations. The acts on the Motown label were fastidiously groomed, dressed and choreographed for live performances. Motown artists were advised that their breakthrough into the white popular music market made them ambassadors for other African American artists seeking broad market acceptance, and that they should think, act, walk and talk like royalty, so as to alter the less-than-dignified image commonly held by white Americans in that era of black musicians. Given that many of the talented young artists had been raised in housing projects and were short on social and dress skills, this Motown department was not only necessary, it created an elegant style of presentation long associated with the label.

But just as this image was essential in the early days of the civil rights movement by the late 60s early 70s it was deemed to be too syrupy and a poor representation of black people and black music. Hair went natural; lyrics became political – paving the way for Funk and Raw Soul.

This exhibition highlights this important political time. If you thought like me that the Supremes were just about sequins, big hair and showtime soul you should go and check it out. Those sequins were essential to changing attitudes and were instrument to the equality that we witness today.